Chelsea’s attempts to tie Antonio Rudiger down to a new deal have hit a stumbling block over the player’s wage demands, reports The Times. Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain are said to be monitoring the centre-back closely.
The German is in the final months of his deal and will become eligible to sign a pre-contract agreement with other teams come January. The 28-year-old has become a key member of Thomas Tuchel’s squad, and his displays over the last six months have attracted the attention of several top European clubs.
The report states that while the player would like to continue his career with Chelsea, he also wants a considerable bump in his £130,000-a-week wage. It is believed that the player is demanding his salary be increased to £200,000-a-week, making him one of the club’s highest earners.
Nevertheless, even with the increase, Rudiger will remain significantly behind the likes of N’Golo Kante and Romelu Lukaku in the wage bill.
Failure to reach an agreement could force Chelsea to sell Rudiger in January 2022 or risk losing him for nothing the subsequent summer. Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain have all shown interest in the centre-back and are said to be monitoring his situation at Chelsea closely.
Real signed David Alaba on a free transfer this summer, whilst PSG completed similar deals for Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Lionel Messi, and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Chelsea signed Rudiger from AS Roma in 2017 for a fee believed to be in the region of £30 million. The German signed a five-year deal with the Blues and slowly became an integral member of the first-team squad.
Rudiger suffered under former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard, who preferred to play Kurt Zouma and Thiago Silva over the defender, so much so that he came close to joining PSG in summer 2020. However, the 28-year-old recovered his place in the first team under compatriot Tuchel upon the latter’s arrival in early 2021 and won the Champions League later in the same year.
